Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT Caribbean Nights #9) - Kat Cantrell Page 0,68
trouble for their fathers as possible. Montgomery St. Croix and Wallace Anderson had served on the board of the private boys’ school Charlie and Jared attended in a suburb of Baltimore. Jared had pushed him to explore boundaries, shed his sainthood, and Charlie had reveled in his rebellion. Until that day he’d walked in on his father and Naomi and then fled to the opposite coast for a place that stilled the chaos in his head.
In the Navy, he’d embraced the concept of doing the right thing. That made sense to him. Doing what he pleased made sense to Anderson, and they’d never seen eye to eye again. They’d drifted apart long before Charlie had realized it. He’d sensed it two years ago but hadn’t acted on it. Which wouldn’t happen twice.
With a pity-filled smirk, Anderson contemplated him. “You really didn’t know that she was here earlier? That is shocking, I readily admit, especially given that I offered her a chance to give our relationship another shot. She’s considering it.”
This time, it was Charlie who laughed. “Now I know you’re lying. Whatever this fantasy is that you’ve spun up in your head needs to go. Audra is mine. Finally. She should have been all along.”
“Well, that’s not what she said. I know, I was surprised too. But practically the first thing out of her mouth when she waltzed in here earlier was to tell me that our relationship meant something to her.”
“You used a golden opportunity to insinuate yourself into her life and her bed,” he growled even as he reminded himself that Audra really didn’t belong to anyone, least of all Charlie. “It’s reprehensible to take advantage of someone who had just lost the most important person in her life. Do you even realize how evil that was?”
Anderson didn’t blink. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Audra and I didn’t start sleeping together until oh, maybe two months after Isaac’s funeral. I didn’t take advantage of her. If anything, she came onto me.”
“You know I’m just going to go straight to the source.” The man’s tactics were unbelievable. And would never work, which made them also pathetic. “I’ll ask her, she’ll look at me like I’m crazy, and then we’ll have a good chuckle over it. You can’t take her away from me so easily.”
Completely unperturbed, Anderson nodded. “I do fully expect that you’ll be having a conversation with Audra very soon. I hope you’re not totally caught off guard, because I can guarantee you she’s considering my offer.”
Something flashed in Anderson’s expression, and it dawned on Charlie then. “That’s what this has been about. All along. You wanted Audra, and when you had her, you didn’t care anything about me. I stayed out of your way and ran my business. It was only when she dumped your sorry ass that you came after me.”
Jealousy. Of all things. This whole time, Charlie had been convinced Anderson’s motive here was money, and instead, he’d wanted the one thing that he couldn’t buy—Audra. The billionaire had gotten the girl the first time using all the slick charm at his disposal, no doubt, but he wouldn’t be so successful the second time.
Anderson lifted his chin. “All’s fair in love and war.”
“You’ve got that right.” Charlie turned to leave and stopped at the door. “Cancel the injunction. Otherwise you’re going to find yourself on the wrong end of a dirty fight.”
“Counterproposal. If you stand in the way of Audra’s decision to get back together with me, I’ll make sure your business license is revoked.”
As the final syllable sliced through the air, Charlie jerked to a halt and swung around to face his nemesis one last time. “Threats? That’s the best you can do? How about letting Audra make her own choices?”
“I am.” Jared showed his teeth. “I’m just giving you a little extra incentive to clear the way for her to make that choice.”
“Why the hell would I do that?”
“Because you want what’s best for her,” he fired back without missing a beat. “I was there for her. I held her when she cried. I stood next to her as she laid a rose on Isaac’s casket. Where were you?”
Pain, sudden and brutal, exploded in Charlie’s chest. His mouth dried up so fast he couldn’t swallow, couldn’t breathe, as he processed what he’d like to mock as fabrications, half-truths, something other than what it was: reality.
Jared had done what Charlie couldn’t.
Anderson was challenging him to not only recognize that but to